RSVP: info@ashbyvillage.org or 510-204-9200
When: Friday, November 4, 2022, 3:00 PM until 4:00 PM
Where: In person at Ashby Village office, 1821 Catalina Ave. Berkeley
Open to: Everyone
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible
Aging isn't easy. But it can still be filled with joy
Aging isn't easy. But it can still be filled with joy—maybe even more joy than we expect. Zen teacher and writer Susan Moon shares stories from her own life on topics including knee replacements, zoom chats with grandchildren, ongoing companionship with a close friend who is moving deeper into dementia, and a season as a Zen monk in the wilderness. Moon illustrates the strength that can come from within, sometimes unexpectedly, even as our bodies fail. Our radiant aliveness can be discovered and rediscovered any time up to the last moment.
Alive Until You're Dead encourages us as we face our impermanence. Moon's stories explore being present with what is, not turning away from what's difficult, wishing for and working for the wellbeing of others, and be willing to not know what's next. These field notes from an old human being invite us to feel more alive in the final stretch, whatever it holds.
Susan Moon will read from her new book, Alive Until You’re Dead: Notes on the Home Stretch, followed by questions and conversation.
SUSAN MOON is a writer, editor, and lay Zen teacher. Her books include the memoir This Is Getting Old; the groundbreaking collection, The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, with Florence Caplow; and What Is Zen? with Norman Fischer. She practices at the Berkeley Zen Center and with the Everyday Zen Sangha. For many years she has taught and led Zen retreats and writing retreats in the Bay Area, around the country, and internationally. She came to Berkeley from New England in 1969, and has lived in the same house for 50 years. She raised her children in this house, but now, alas, they and her grandchildren live far away, in Virginia and Texas. She is happy now to be sharing her house with her sister and brother-in-law, the three of them aging in place together.